Dust-trunk for cotton-openers



(No Model.)

H. O. PERI-1AM.

DUST TRUNK FOR COTTON OPENERS. No. 388,070. Patelrted Aug. 21, 1888.

Inventor.

N. PETERS, Phowum n hnr. wasnm mn. 04 C.

NITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE HAVEN C. PERHAM, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

DUST-TRUNK FOR COTTON-OPENERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,070, dated August21, 1888.

Application filed January 28, 1888. Serial No. 262.194.

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, IIAVEN O. PERHAM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inDust- Trunks for OottoaOpeners, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to dustt-runks for cottoncleaning, and is like thetrunks in common use in having a fiber-passage through which the cottonor other fibers are drawn by a current of air from an opener orequivalent mechanism to a lapper, or from a breakeropener to afinisher-opener, the bottom of the fibei passage being a grating ofparalleltransverse bars arranged at intervals above dustpockets formedby a series of transverse verti cal division-boards arranged at suitableintervals to receive loose dust, gravel, and other matters heavier thanthe cotton and shaken from the cotton through the grating. It is commonto close the dust-pockets while the trunk is in use by an equal numberof separate tightly-fitting removable bottoms to pre vent the air frombeing drawn up through the pockets and through the grating, and thushindering the dust from entering the pockets, or carrying the dustalready in the pockets through the grating andinto the fiber-passage,the pockets being emptied by removing the bottoms thereof separately,the bottoms, after cleaning, being separately restored to position,operations requiring considerable time and allowing the escape of dustinto the room in which the dust-trunk is placed. The trunk is cleanedwhen not in use, so that the operation of cleaning the trunk or emptyingthe pockets necessitates the stopping of the opener and lapper for aconsiderable time.

The object of the improvement, hereinafter described, is to save timelost in emptying the pockets, and thereby to increase the amount of workdone by the opening and lapping machines, and to avoid the escape ofdust into the room which contains the dust-trunk, and this object is(stated in general terms) accomplished by arranging below all thedust-pock ets an inclined bottom common to all said pockets and adaptedto be lowered away from said pockets, and to form with the sides of thedust-trunk an inclined chute .to receive the discharge of said pocketsand allow such dis- (No model.)

charge to run down said chute and from the end thereof by its owngravity.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse section an theline or y in Fig. 2, omitting the division boards or partitions betweenthe pockets; Fig. 2, a longitudinalsection of a part of a dust-trunkconstructed in accordance with my invention and a side elevation of apart of the wormshaft and the other devices for raising and lowering thebot tom of the trunk to close or open the lower ends of the pockets;Fig. 3, a side elevation of an opener arranged on one floor, a lapperarranged on the floorabove, and a dust-trunk connecting said opener andlapper.

A is an opener of any usual construction; B, a lapper of any usualconstruction placed in a room above the room which contains said opener;and G, a dust-trunk connecting said opener and lapper in the usualmanner, ex cept that the portion of the dust-trunk which contains thedust-pockets 0 named below, is inclined throughout its length.

The dust-trunk G is provided with a cottonspace or fiber-passage, c, andwith a grating, a, and with transverse division-boards 0 the spaces 0between said division-boards, forming the dust-pockets, these partsbeing of substantially the usual construction, except that, whereas thefiber-passage and the grating are commonly horizontal, they are hereshown as inclined. The division-boards c are preferably vertical, asusual. The top 0* of the dusttrunk is parallel with the grating c, andthe the sides a c of the dust-trunk Gare vertical, but extend for somedistance below the division-boards 0 In this improvement the bottom 0 ofthe dust-trunk is common to all the dust-pockets and is wide enough tofill the space between the sides of the dusttrunk, and fits in such amanner as to make a substantially air-tight joint between said sides andsaid bottom and between the lower ends of the divisionboards and saidbottom, and the side edges of the bottom 0 are stiffened by ribs 0secured to under side thereof, which ribs, by increasing the bearing ofsaid bottom against the sides of the trunk, more perfectly prevent theadmission of air to the pockets from below.

It is obvious that lowering the bottom a away from the lower edges ofthe stationary division-boards will draw the contents of the pocketsfrom said pockets, or at least will allow said contents to fall, andthat said contents may then be moved below the division-boards along onsaid bottom to the end of the same and discharge from the end thereofas,for instance, by a current of air from the exhaustfan. In order to avoidthe use of such a fan or other positive mechanism designed to actdirectly upon the contents of the pockets, I prefer to incline thedust-trunk at a suitable anglesay of about forty degrees or moreso thatwhen the bottom is lowered away from the division-boards the contents ofthe dusttrunk will be caused by their own gravity to slide to the lowerend of the trunk and to be discharged therefrom into a suitablereceptacle, as D, of ordinary construction, or into a passagecommunicating with the outer air, or with a dustroom, in a well-knownmanner. Obviously there are many ways of lowering the bottom c but Iprefer the means shown in the drawings, consisting of a number(depending on the length of the trunk and stillness of the bottom a) oftransverse shafts E, each supported and turning in a pair of hangers,ee, rigidly secured to the sides of the trunk and extending below saidsides, parallel arms 6 e rigidly secured in pairs to said shafts E andpivoted at their outer ends at e e to the inner faces of the ribs 0 aworm-gear, e", secured to each of said shafts E, and a singlelongitudinal shaft, F, supported and turning in the hangers e andprovided with worms f, which engage the worm-gears e", whereby rotatingthe shaft F in one direction by means of the hand-wheelf, securedthereto, or by other convenient means, will rotate all the shafts E andswing the bottom 0 endwise and downward away from the division-boardsand away from the lower side 0 of the lower dustpocket, and so thatturning said shaft F in the other direction will carrysaid bottom upwardagainst all the division-boards and close the lower ends of all thedust-pockets.

The bottom 0 never falls below the lower edges of the vertical sides 0 cof the dusttrunk, and when lowered forms with said sides an inclinedchute or dust-passage. It will be seen that every point of the bottom 0in the movement above described travels in the arc of a circle, and thatthe arms e e are, when the dust-pockets are closed, nearly at rightangles to the upper surface of the bottom 0 so that in the act ofopening the pockets the contents of the pockets, consisting partly offibers matted together, are sufficiently disturbed by the motion of saidbottom (which motion is at first almost in the direction of its length)past the division-boards, to fall apart and slide down said bottom.

The time required to empty all the pockets is by the improvement abovedescribed greatly reduced, so as to be not very much more than isusually required to empty three or four pockets of the large numbercommonly employed in a single trunk.

I claim as my invention 1. A dust-trunk for cleaning fibers, providedwith a grating and with a fiber-passage above said grating, and withdust-pockets arranged below said grating, and with a bottom common toall said pockets, normally closing the bottoms of said pockets andarranged between the sides of said dust-trunk and above the lower edgesof said sides, and adapted to be lowered away from the lower ends ofsaid pockets and to form with the sides of said trunk a dust-passage forthe contents of all said pockets, as and for the purpose specified.

2. An inclined dust-trunk for cleaning fibers, provided with a gratingand with a fiber-passage above said grating, and with dust-pocketsarranged below said grating, and with a bottom common to all saidpockets, normally closing the bottoms of said pockets and arrangedbetween the sides of said dust-trunk above thelower edges of said sides,and adapted to be lowered away from the lower ends of said pockets toempty said pockets, and to form with said sides an inclined dust passageor chute down which the contents of said pockets may be forced by theirown gravity and discharged at the lower end of said chute, as and forthe purpose specified.

3. A dust-trunk for cleaning fibers, pro vided with a grating and with afiber-passage above said grating,with dust-pockets arranged below saidgrating, and with a bottom common to all said pockets arranged betweenthe sides of said trunk,i n combination-with means, substantially asdescribed, of holding said bottom against the lower ends of saidpockets, or, at will, of drawing said bottom away from the lower ends ofsaid pockets to empty said pockets and to cause said bottom to form withthe sides of said trunk a dust-passage for the contents of said pockets,as and for the purpose specified.

4. A dust-trunk for cleaning fibers, provided with a grating, with afiber-passage above said grating, with dust-pockets arranged below saidgrating, and with a bottom common to all said pockets and arrangedbetween the sides of said trunk above the lower edges of said sides,transverse shafts supported below said trunk and provided with .armspivoted to said bottom, a worm-gear secured on each of said shafts, anda longitudinal shaft provided with worms engaging said wormgears,wherebythe turning of said worm-shaft will cause said bottom to close all ofsaid pockets, or, at will, will move said bottom away from the lowerends of said pockets, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have this day signed this specification, in thepresence of two attest ing witnesses, January 23, A. D. 1888.

HAVEN G. PERHAM.

Witnesses:

HENRY A. DAVIS, ALBERT M. MOORE.

